The invention relates to a separating device for a combine harvester that operates according to the principle of axial flow.
A separating devices that operates according to the principle of axial flow is described in EP 2 428 109 B1, for example. The separating device therein comprises a housing having a separating grate arrangement and a cover arrangement that jointly form a hollow cylinder, a separating rotor accommodated in the hollow cylinder of the housing in a rotatably supported manner such that an intermediate space is defined between the housing and the separating rotor for conveying crop circumferentially and along a longitudinal axis of the separating rotor. Crop stream engagement means are provided on an inner surface of the cover arrangement facing the separating rotor, which are designed to engage radially, in a ramp-type manner around the circumference of the separating rotor, into a crop stream. The crop stream circulates in the intermediate space during the circumferential conveyance of the crop stream, in order to loosen said crop stream in order to increase the separating output.
The known crop stream engagement means comprise at least one ramp-shaped crop stream engagement element, wherein a ramp height and, therefore, an intensity of the engagement of the crop stream engagement element into the circulating crop stream is fixedly defined by an angle of inclination or angling that is defined between the inner surface of the cover arrangement and the crop stream engagement element.
By use of the ramp-shaped crop stream engagement element on the inner surface of the cover arrangement, the crop stream, which circulates on the inner surface of the cover arrangement and is thereby compressed to form a crop mat, is loosened again in that the crop stream is lifted off the inner surface of the cover arrangement by the crop stream engagement element and subsequently falls back down onto said inner surface.
In order to permit the engagement intensity of the crop stream engagement element into the circulating crop stream to be adapted to different operating conditions, such as different crop, the crop stream engagement element is detachably fastened on the inner surface of the cover arrangement. Therefore, a crop stream engagement element that predefines a fixed ramp height can be exchanged, as necessary, for another crop stream engagement element that predefines a different fixed ramp height. In order to perform such a replacement, however, the separating device must be brought to a standstill, whereby limits are set on the operational variability of the separating device.